"She Shut Her Lights Out, My Lord."

Students of the Californian controversy have sometimes expressed
puzzlement regarding various eyewitness descriptions of the
so-called 'mystery ship' observed by the Californian's watch
officers on the night the Titanic went down. Third Officer Charles
Groves (who was on duty from 8 p.m. on April 14th until about
12:15 a.m. on the morning of April 15th) said that the nearby
vessel was showing " ... a lot of light. There was absolutely no
doubt her being a passenger steamer, at least in my mind." Second
Officer Stone and Apprentice Gibson, on the other hand, described
the nearby vessel in terms that were diametrically opposed to the
description provided by Third Officer Groves. Gibson said that
"...I have seen nearly all the large passenger boats out at sea,
and there was nothing at all about it to resemble a passenger
boat." Stone agreed, saying that the nearby vessel merely showed
"...one masthead light and a red sidelight and two or three small
indistinct lights."

The reader might well wonder how Titanic researchers can possibly
arrive at an accurate assessment of the Californian controversy in
the face of such widely-varying testimony. How could Third Officer
Groves claim to see a large passenger liner that was awash in a
"blaze of the white lights," while Gibson (supported by Stone)
believed he saw a poorly-lit "tramp steamer" or "medium size
steamer?"

The answer to this puzzling question will become readily apparent
if the reader will undertake a careful analysis of the Titanic's
movements (both before and immediately after the collision) in
conjunction with the Californian's position relative to the
Titanic after the latter vessel came to a stop.

Let us begin our examination.

It is well known that, after the initial sighting of the fatal
iceberg by the Titanic's lookouts, the order "Hard astarboard!"
was given and the great liner turned two points (about 22 degrees)
to port before the collision took place. After the ship's initial
contact with the iceberg, the order "Hard aport!" was given and
the Titanic slowly began turning to starboard, finally coming to a
stop with her bows pointed in a northerly direction. (See Rowe and
Beesley for confirmation; the Titanic's bow section was still
facing northward when Dr. Ballard discovered it lying on the ocean
floor in 1985.)

A short time after the vessel came to a stop, observers on board
the Titanic noticed the lights of another ship visible about 1/2
point (5 1/2 degrees) off the Titanic's port bow. The Titanic was
therefore pointed almost directly toward this nearby vessel and
was displaying her red port sidelight to the unknown ship.

2. 11:40 p.m.: the order "Hard astarboard!" is given and Titanic
turns two points to port before colliding with the iceberg.

3. Post-11:40 p.m.: after the initial shock of collision, the
order "Hard aport!" is given and Titanic begins turning to
starboard; she comes to rest with her bows facing in a northerly
direction and with her red port sidelight being displayed to the
'unknown ship' lying 5 1/2 degrees off her port bow.

Now that we have briefly examined the Titanic's movements both
before and immediately after her collision with the iceberg, let
us examine the testimony of the Californian's watch officers and
see if we can reconcile their observations with the Titanic's
known movements.

At about 11:10 p.m. the Californian's Third Officer Groves saw
the masthead light of an approaching steamer about ten or twelve
miles from the Californian. As the ship got closer Groves could
see a bright glare from her deck lights and was certain that the
approaching vessel was a large passenger steamer. At 11:25 p.m.
Groves noticed a second masthead light as it became visible above
the nearby steamer.

A black and white approximation of the Titanic's lights as they
would have appeared when viewed from slightly astern on her
astarboard side. (This is a retouched version of the photo which
appears at the beginning of this monograph. The original photo of
the lighted Titanic model appears courtesy of Beverly Crowder.)

At 11:40 p.m., however, the approaching ship stopped and, at the
same time, her bright deck lights disappeared from Groves' view.
At first Groves felt that the ship had put out her lights for the
night, but later, upon reflection, he decided that the vessel's
lights had only *seemed* to go out because she had made a sudden
turn and changed her heading -- perhaps to avoid ice. (Groves
testified that "She shut her lights out, my Lord," -- the term
"shut out" being nautical parlance for "block from view" rather
than "extinguish.") The Californian's Third Officer could still
see the nearby ship's two masthead lights, though, and -- now that
most of her bright deck lights had disappeared -- he could also
see her red port sidelight. Apprentice Gibson, who came on duty
twenty minutes later at midnight, was certain that the nearby ship
(which was located SSE of the Californian) must have been pointing
north of NNW in order to show her red port sidelight to the
Californian. Gibson could see the glare of the ship's deck lights
extending to the right of the bright masthead light, confirming
that the nearby ship was pointed slightly north of the
Californian's position. (See the preceding diagram of the
Titanic's movements in relation to the Californian's position.)

Thus far we have established that the movements of the Titanic
correspond very nicely with the movements of the unknown vessel
that "shut her lights out" and came to a stop SSE of the
Californian while pointed slightly north of the Californian's
position. However, we are still faced with the strange dichotomy
between the brightly-lit passenger steamer described by Third
Officer Groves and the poorly-lit tramp steamer described by
Second Officer Stone and Apprentice Gibson. Perhaps it is time for
us to take a closer look at how the Titanic would have appeared to
observers who were positioned almost directly ahead of the great
vessel.

The following closeup photograph will give the reader a good idea
of the approximate view of the Titanic that would have been had by
a vessel situated a few degrees off the Titanic's port bow.

A model of the Titanic as viewed from slightly off her port bow
-- i.e. from the same direction in which lay the 'unknown vessel'
to the north. (Photograph courtesy of Beverly Crowder.)

The above photograph of a lighted Titanic model is much brighter
than the real Titanic would have appeared at night, though, and
many parts of the model which are visible in the photo were
actually poorly lit and very difficult to discern on board the
real ship. The author has therefore taken the liberty of
retouching the above photo in order to eliminate brightly-lit
areas of the model (e.g. the brightly-lit bridge, the illuminated
funnels etc.) which were dark in real life and which would have
been unobservable at any great distance from the real ship. The
retouched photo -- in black and white and showing only the ship's
lights -- appears below.

An approximation of the Titanic's lights as they would have
appeared from slightly off the vessel's port bow -- i.e. from the
same direction in which lay the 'unknown vessel' to the north. A
representation of the Titanic's red port sidelight is visible on
the port bridge wing, and a few scattered bits of illumination on
the ship's boat deck have been retained in order to help maximize
the ship's visibility for our present purposes. (The original
unretouched model photo is courtesy of Beverly Crowder.)

The reader has undoubtedly already noticed that -- when viewed
from almost directly ahead -- the lights of the Titanic are not
nearly as numerous and noticeable as they are when the ship is
viewed from broadside. We have just reached the crux of the
matter, because THAT is the very reason why the Californian's
Second Officer Stone and Apprentice Gibson (neither of whom came
on duty until midnight) did not recognize the brightly-lit
passenger vessel that was clearly visible to Third Officer Groves
up until 11:40 p.m. -- at which time she 'shut out' her broadside
lights while trying to avoid a collision with the iceberg that lay
directly in her path.

A. A relatively close view of the Titanic as she would have
appeared at night when viewed from her starboard side.

B. A corresponding view of the Titanic when viewed at night from
slightly off her port bow. Notice how few lights are visible from
this perspective -- the same view of the Titanic that was had by
the 'unknown vessel' to the north.

Up until now we have been looking at closeup views of the Titanic
as she would have appeared at night. It must be remembered,
though, that Third Officer Groves and Apprentice Gibson both
estimated that the ship which stopped within sight of the
Californian might have been as far away as seven miles. Although
the present author does not have an accurate way to represent the
apparent size of the Titanic as she would have appeared at a
distance of seven miles, it nevertheless lies within his power to
reduce the size of the above photograph so as to give a *rough
approximation* of how the Titanic would have looked (from
broadside as well as from head-on) at a distance of *several*
miles (although almost certainly less than Groves' and Gibson's
maximum estimate of seven miles.).

A. The Titanic's starboard side as viewed from a distance of
several miles.

B. The Titanic as viewed from slightly off her port bow at a
distance of several miles.

The reader might well be startled by how puny and insignificant
the Titanic looks when viewed from bow-on at a distance of several
miles in the dark of night. However, this is the *very* reason why
the Californian's Second Officer Stone and Apprentice Gibson found
it impossible to grasp the idea that the white rockets being fired
by their (supposed) poorly-lit "tramp steamer" were actually
distress rockets being fired by the largest ship in the world -- a
brand new passenger vessel that was making a desperate plea for
assistance from anyone who might be near enough to see.

Before we conclude our discussion, however, one final point still
needs to be made.

The reader has undoubtedly noticed that the present monograph has
thus far made no mention of Captain Lord's own description of the
so-called 'mystery ship' that was visible from the Californian's
bridge. There is an excellent reason for this omission -- a reason
made clear in the following excerpt from the author's unpublished
manuscript about the Californian incident:

Captain Lord and the Approaching 'Mystery Ship'

Captain Lord claimed that, between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., the
ship that was approaching the Californian merely displayed a
masthead light, a green starboard sidelight and a few deck lights
-- which suggests that the vessel was a small, poorly-lit steamer.
Lord testified that he stood on deck watching this steamer until
11:30 p.m. In an affidavit written several days later Lord added:
"At 11:30 p.m. I noticed that the other steamer was stopped about
five miles off, also that the Third Officer was morsing him. I
continued watching and noticed that she didn't reply.

"At 11:45 p.m. I went to the bridge, casually noticed the other
vessel, and commented to the Third Officer that she had stopped
and wouldn't reply to our morse signals. He answered in the
affirmative."

In a similar vein, Captain Lord told the British Inquiry that he
was "up and down off the bridge till 12 o'clock"; indeed, these
statements tend to give one the impression that the Californian's
captain was actively engaged in monitoring the appearance of the
unknown vessel that was steadily approaching his ship and which
eventually stopped a few miles away.

Third Officer Groves' testimony decisively refutes the above
impression, however. Groves testified that Captain Lord was on the
bridge only once between 10:35 p.m. and midnight -- and that
Lord's single bridge appearance occurred only after Groves went
down and spoke to the captain personally.

When Third Officer Groves had first reported for bridge duty at 8
p.m. that evening, Captain Lord had left him with orders to let
him know if he saw any steamers approaching. At 11:30 p.m.,
therefore, Groves obeyed these orders and went down to the lower
bridge in search of the captain. However, instead of finding
Captain Lord actively engaged in observing the approaching steamer
(as Lord's affidavit and testimony would have us believe), Groves
instead found his captain behind closed doors in the chart room.
(Although one Lordite account says that Lord had "just returned"
to the chartroom, there is no evidence to support this
contention.)

After knocking at the chartroom door, Groves entered and told the
captain that there was a steamer approaching the Californian,
coming up on her starboard quarter.

"Can you make anything out of her lights?" asked Captain Lord.

"Yes," replied Groves. "She is evidently a passenger steamer
coming up on us." He added that he could see the vessel's deck
lights.

"The only passenger steamer near us is the Titanic," observed
Captain Lord. Then, referring to the approaching steamer, Lord
said, "Call her up on the Morse lamp and see if you can get any
reply." Groves immediately left the chartroom to obey.

It is obvious that Groves' report about the approaching passenger
steamer caught Captain Lord completely by surprise. If Lord had
indeed "just returned" to the chartroom a moment before Groves
arrived there at 11:30 p.m., he would have been fully aware of the
appearance of the approaching passenger liner and would not have
been forced to ask Groves what she looked like. Indeed, Captain
Lord's reaction to Groves' report suggests that Lord had not given
any thought to the approaching steamer since he spoke about it
with the ship's Marconi operator at 11 p.m. It follows that Third
Officer Groves' unambiguous observation of a big passenger steamer
showing a bright glare of lights must be regarded as considerably
more trustworthy than Captain Lord's own claim that the
approaching steamer was a small vessel showing few lights.

In short, there is no compelling reason for historians to believe
that the Titanic and the Californian did not have a clear,
unobstructed view of each other during the wee hours of April 15,
1912.

Finis

Acknowledgements

The author would like to express his grateful thanks to Beverly
Crowder for her outstanding efforts to obtain carefully composed,
properly-exposed photographs of her internally-lit model of the
Titanic. It was Beverly's beautiful photo of her Titanic model
(which appears at the beginning of this monograph) that spurred me
to make a comparative study of the real Titanic's actual nighttime
appearance when viewed from various angles and distances. Indeed,
this monograph could not have been written without Beverly's kind
assistance in the photographic department, and I would like her to
know how grateful I am to her for her kindness.